WaPo: Thankful for Right to Abort Down Syndrome Babies

Remember the scandal late last year in Iceland when the official government’s declaration was that they had virtually eradicated Downs Syndrome…via abortion?

It rightly earned the vitriol of the pro-life world which pointed out the obvious: abortion doesn’t solve a genetic abnormality; it just ends human lives.

But clearly the Washington Post didn’t get that memo.

A columnist penned a piece this month celebrating the rationale for aborting Downs babies because, essentially, they’ll lead lesser lives than the rest of us and what lives they do lead will burden the rest of us.

Got that?

Your life is only as valuable as its offer of utility to the rest of the world.

Imagine feeling this way and having so little shame about it that you’d ask a major newspaper to publicize your point of view.

And now imagine that the paper prints it, reasoning that an opinion shared so widely must be “reasonable” and defensible by definition.

The worst part here is her patronizing praise of mothers who carry their children with Down’s to term. How admirable you are to bear the burden of this defective.

I respect — I admire — families that knowingly welcome a baby with Down syndrome into their lives. Certainly, to be a parent is to take the risks that accompany parenting; you love your child for who she is, not what you want her to be.

But accepting that essential truth is different from compelling a woman to give birth to a child whose intellectual capacity will be impaired, whose life choices will be limited, whose health may be compromised. Most children with Down syndrome have mild to moderate cognitive impairment, meaning an IQ between 55 and 70 (mild) or between 35 and 55 (moderate). This means limited capacity for independent living and financial security; Down syndrome is life-altering for the entire family.

I’m going to be blunt here: That was not the child I wanted. That was not the choice I would have made. You can call me selfish, or worse, but I am in good company. The evidence is clear that most women confronted with the same unhappy alternative would make the same decision.